Voodoo Macbeth leads filmmaker awards for Harlem Film Festival 2021 after ushering NYC back into the theater

Voodoo Macbeth leads filmmaker awards for Harlem Film Festival 2021 after ushering NYC back into the theater

The Harlem International Film Festival (Hi) announced the award winning films and filmmakers for this year’s virtual edition. Voodoo Macbeth was named Best Narrative Feature, with Tarabu Betserai Kirkland’s 100 Years from Mississippi taking the award for Best Documentary Feature.

Ílker Savaskurt’s Reflection (Ákis) was cited as Best World Film (Narrative) and Rebecca Heidenberg’s Queens of the Revolution took the prize for Best World Documentary.

VOODOO MACBETH
VOODOO MACBETH
100 YEARS FROM MISSISSIPPI
100 YEARS FROM MISSISSIPPI

Harlem International Film Festival Program Director Nasri Zacharia said, “Our 16th edition marked the return to in-person, in-theater screenings in New York City, and our hybrid approach allowed us to continue to invite audiences throughout the state of New York to the unique blend of global cinema and local films that we have built a reputation celebrating for a decade and a half now. Harlem emphatically is a center, magnet, and inspiration for the arts, and we embrace our role in that vital and vibrant legacy.

The 2021 Harlem International Film Festival Jury included: Vernon Reid (Grammy-Winning Founder of the Iconic Band Living Colour); Paul Eckstein (Writer/Producer of the EPIX series Godfather of Harlem); Christine Swanson (Director of NAACP Image Award-winning The Clark Sisters: The First Ladies of Gospel); Jamal Joseph (professor and former chair of the Columbia University film division); Allison Vanore (Emmy winning producer); Indrani Kopal (award-winning filmmaker & professor and a past winner of the Festival’s Mira Nair Award); Moon Molson (award-winning filmmaker and film professor); and Frank Yan (Co-Director of the CineCina Film Festival).

COOGAN'S WAY
COOGAN’S WAY

Additional film and filmmaker awards went to; Glenn Osten Anderson’s Coogan’s Way, which won the Audience Award;Khitam Jabr’s Summer in Hindsight (Best Experimental Film); Takeshi Yashiro’s Gon, the Little Fox (Best Animation); Richard Neumann’s Skyrocket (Best Music Video), Thomas Goggans’ Praize (Best Webisode); and Brian Andrews’ Hominidae (Best Virtual Reality).

Leading the individual awards, Avril E. Russell won The Mira Nair Award for Rising Female Filmmaker for her work on All on a Summer’s Day, and Joseph E. Austin II won Best Narrative Director for Sundays in July, while Abby Ginzberg won Best Documentary Director for Truth to Power: Barbara Lee Speaks for Me. Acting awards were received by Inger Tudor (Best Actress) for Voodoo Macbeth, and Elijah Canlas (Best Actor) for Kalel, 15.

ALL ON A SUMMER'S DAY
ALL ON A SUMMER’S DAY
FULL CIRCLE
FULL CIRCLE

The Harlem International Film Festival’s commitment to celebrating and promoting the work of local filmmakers this year yielded wins for; Anne Via McCollough’s Full Circle (New York Vision Award); Daniel Peddle’s The Drop Shot (Harlem Spotlight Award); and Arielle Edelman’s First Move (Uptown Award).

Awards for Short Films went to; Cole Swanson‘s Baby for Best Short Film – Narrative; Carol Devoe’s Anthony Crawford: The Man the South Forgot for Best Short Film – Documentary; Hans Augustave’s Before I Knew for Best Short Short; and Maya Jai Pinson’s I’m Ready for Best Youth Short Film.

Hi screenwriting competition winners included; Rodgers Wilson’s “Ella, Witnessing” winning Best Feature Screenplay and Ericka Gomez’s “Survival as a Ghostwriter” winning Best Short Screenplay.

This year’s edition of the Harlem International Film Festival marked a big return to theaters with an Opening Night gala double triple feature presentation at the AMC Magic Johnson 9 complete with red carpet entrances including appearances by former Congressman Charles Rangel, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, the iconic Lisa Lisa, and Barry Shabaka Henley. The event emphatically kicked off the film festival, whose virtual component was quickly expanded to run an additional week due to the enthusiasm of the film festival’s audiences.


THE 2021 HARLEM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AWARD WINNERS

FILM AWARDS

Best Narrative Film

Voodoo Macbeth

Directors: Dagmawi Abebe, Roy Arwas, Hannah Bang, Christopher Beaton, Victor Alonso-Berbel, Agazi Desta, Tiffany Kontoyiannis, Zoe Salnave, Ernesto Sandoval, Sabina Vajraca

Best Documentary

100 Years from Mississippi
Director: Tarabu Betserai Kirkland

Best World Film

Reflection (Ákis)                                                                        

Director: Ílker Savaskurt

Best World Documentary

Queens of The Revolution                                           

Director: Rebecca Heidenberg

Audience Award

Coogan’s Way                                                            

Director: Glenn Osten Anderson

Best Experimental Film

Summer in Hindsight                                                                         

Director:  Khitam Jabr

Best Animation

Gon, The Little Fox                                                                                        

Director: Takeshi Yashiro

Best Music Video

Skyrocket 

Director: Jake Armstrong

Best Webisode

Praize                                                   

Director: Thomas Goggans

Best VR (Virtual Reality)

Hominidae                                                                                                                     

Director: Brian Andrews


INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

Mira Nair Award for Rising Female Filmmaker

Avril E. Russell(All on a Summer’s Day)                                                        

Best Narrative Director

Joseph E. Austin II(Sundays in July)

Best Documentary Director

Abby Ginzberg (Truth to Power: Barbara Lee Speaks for Me)                                           

Best Actress

Inger Tudor (Voodoo Macbeth)

Best Actor

Elijah Canlas (Kalel, 15)  


HARLEM AND NEW YORK SHOWCASE AWARDS

New York Vision Award

Full Circle                                                                                                      
Director: Anne Via McCollough

Harlem Spotlight

The Drop Shot                                                                                                     

Director: Daniel Peddle

Uptown Award

First Move                                                                                          

Director: Arielle Edelman


SHORT FILM AWARDS

Best Short Narrative 

Baby                                                                                                         

Director: Cole Swanson

Best Short Documentary

Anthony Crawford: The Man the South Forgot                             

Director: Carol Devoe

Best Short Short

Before I Knew

Director: Hans Augustave

Best Youth Short

I’m Ready

Director: Maya Jai Pinson


Hi SCREENPLAY COMPETITION

Best Feature Screenplay 

“Ella, Witnessing”

Writer: Rodgers Wilson

Best Short Screenplay

“Survival as a Ghostwriter”

Writer: Ericka Gomez

Feature Screenplay Finalists

“Bad Love Strikes”                                                              

Writer: Dr. Kevin Schewe 

“Destiny of Tar and Feathers“                                                                                 

Writer: Harold L. Brown

“The Forge”       

Writer: Howard W. Robertson

“The Harlem Butcher”  

Writer: Jay Zellman

Short Screenplay Finalists

“Bongsan Mask Dance”

Writer: Andy Choi

“The Flow”

Writer: Paige Wood

“What it Means to be Free”

Writer: Willow Lautenberg

Voodoo Macbeth leads filmmaker awards for Harlem Film Festival 2021 after ushering NYC back into the theater